An in-depth Jager guide from an obsessed Jager main, this guide aims to tell you everything you need to know, from kit, to gameplan and when to bring him (And what to do even if you shouldn’t). This guide will be formatted in the order of:
- When to bring Jager
- Stats + Loadout
- Gadget
- Strategy and Gameplan
- Objectives
- React Tech and React Gear
When should you bring Jager?
Jager is a defense operator by heart, even with offensive ADS usage he maintains defensive positions. Naturally, this means Jager should be brought on defensive objectives, or with mutations that you think would be more manageable with the kit of the ADS. Most notably Elite Intrusion, Acute Swarm Response, Chimera Fog and Revived Archaeans.
Jager’s guns are still superb choices, so if you purely just want to frag out, he is still a good choice for running and gunning, but his gadget will become useless as a result unless you set it down with forward thinking. His decent stats will also make up for any holes in the team, meaning he won’t die immediately but he isn’t slow in the process.
Stats and Loadout
Stats
Jager is a 3 speed 3 armor with Enhanced Reflexes as his perk. This gives him a 20% global damage resistance, +25% movement speed and a 35% buff to his reload, aiming and weapon swap speed.
The total sum of all these stats make Jager a very versatile and flexible character, he won’t go down easy and can hold his own in any situation you can find him in. With him being a defensive archetype, the stats let you run, fight and die whenever you want, which can’t be said for some other operators.
Loadout
Discretion, I will always recommend you keep your secondary quiet and your primary loud, as the 40% damage decrease to a suppressed weapon is a rather big hit, you only want 1 gun for stealth, because suppressors will not save you when you need to fight back.
M870 – Shotgun (60 damage per pellet)
Unfortunately Jager is one of the ops that starts with a shotgun (The worst weapon type in my opinion), but the M870 is still good at being as reliable as shotguns can get. It does heavily benefit from Enhanced Reflexes, but by the time you’ve unlocked that, you’re off to a greener pasture.
P12– Pistol (44 damage loud and 26 damage suppressed)
The other thing you’ll have at the start (and you’re with forever) is Jager’s P12, one of the most versatile pistols in all of Extraction. It’s iron sights aren’t too bad and it’s 15 round mag is deep enough to give you breathing room. The P12 will thin the frontline and finish off a wounded enemy, it’s a great friend that’ll always be with you, don’t doubt it.
MP7– Submachine Gun (32 damage loud and 19 damage suppressed)
At level 3, you’ll unlock the MP7, which I personally consider as his 2nd best weapon. At 900 rpm, the MP7 has a solid loud DPS of 421. It’s a very formidable primary, with good damage, a solid fire rate and easy recoil, allowing anyone to thin a horde with headshots and to lace bigger targets with concentrated fire. While it’s ammo economy is the worst out of Jager’s primaries, ammo is rarely a problem in Extraction anyway.
416-C Carbine – Assault Rifle (38 damage loud and 22 suppressed)
At level 6, you get the 416-C. Much to Jager’s dismay, this is his Siege 2021 version, which makes it his worst conventional primary. A sub-par DPS of 398, decent fire rate of 740, high recoil and a 25 round magazine, it’s just not worth it to take unless you’re holding onto the old days. It’s fire rate at least allows it to control low tier enemies with headshots, but it’s damage combined with that will make non-headshots painfully weak, which landing said headshots will not be simple with the bouncy recoil. It’s his hardest weapon to use, and his least viable automatic weapon. Unless Ubi buffs this weapon, I’d stick with the MP7 until level 9.
552 Commando – Assault Rifle (48 damage loud, 28 suppressed)
At level 9 you gain access to Jager’s most powerful weapon, the 552 Commando. This weapon is an absolute powerhouse. With a fire rate of 690, 501 DPS, steady recoil and powerful attachment options, you can notice the jump in capability Jager has with the 552 in his arms. This high damage rifle has recoil almost comparable to the MP7, which allows you to take things like the Angled Grip for instant aiming, a 1.5x scope for more precision or hell even both, the 552 has plenty of things going for it. It’s holographic sight is also one of two Vortex sights in the game, a cleaner, slimmer holo sight that still maintains a familiar reticle. The many options the 552 gives you will always have a configuration you like, that’ll let you clean house against anything the game throws at you, from Grunt to Elite Apex, from Sludge to Protean, the 552 will never let you down. It’s his best weapon by far.
Gadget – Active Defense System (Magpie)
Jager’s gadget is his signature ADS Magpie Trophy System, known for stopping grenades and projectiles with his debut in Siege. At level 1, it’s got 3 rounds that deal 28 damage each, targeting projectiles with a 20 second recharge per round. Another neat fact, it also functions as a sentry turret, targeting Archaean weak points, along with Blinding Spores and active Nests.
Early on, the ADS will be a bit underwhelming but will still save your life if placed correctly, and that I will get to after discussing the upgrades it gets.
At level 2, you get 5 rounds and the recharge is reduced to 15 seconds, for a level 2 upgrade, this is a pretty substantial buff that frees up your options and allows for aggressive ADS placements.
At level 7, you get a huge upgrade to the ADS, bringing it’s damage up to 63 and bringing the recharge time to 10 seconds per round. This upgrade is massive for multiple reasons, it allows the ADS to kill bigger archies with more efficiency, lets it live longer and at the very least, massively damage an enemy enough to give you a quick finisher.
And finally, at level 10, the ADS has 8 rounds, giving you Jager’s magnum opus of defense and area control. In it’s final state, the ADS will be unparalleled in keeping you safe.
Gadget utilization:
While the ADS is a defensive tool, the mark of a good Jager is the utilization of it as a sort of trap/tripwire. Outside of defense objectives, someone may find him useless, but he is far from it. Setting up a turret in a popular walkway can clear a room without you even being there, or better yet, you can cover your back while you chip away at enemies ahead. Another situation where the ADS is powerful is when a teammate goes down, clear the immediate area, set the ADS down and you’re safe to pick up. But remember! You don’t always have to use your ADS, don’t waste time, don’t waste resources, but if you can use it in a beneficial way, let your team know and paint your automated canvas.
Strategy and Gameplan
Staying quiet – Planning and preparation
The ADS is an underrated tool for stealth and for recovering stealth after a howl. The best places to put your ADS, will be somewhere it’ll swipe people out of the picture while you work on the other side of the map. This will make sure that not only do you have a safe zone, but also a reduction in numbers for when a howl occurs. If your ADS accidentally blows up when taking out a Tormentor, Smasher or Apex, that’s ok! If you’re using the ADS for stealth, this means you’re either too beat up to fight or have the resources to spare, the trade of an ADS for a high tier enemy isn’t a bad one, but if you can avoid it, try to as to not waste your gadget.
Going loud – Action and Adaptation
Whether a bang ringing out is Plan A or Plan B, the ADS can still be useful even if you’re blowing through a Sub-Zone. The main idea here is to place them dynamically to the situation, which will require you to be able to read the room and know what the situation will call for. Your ADS placements will draw lines in the sand, keeping a room clean will give your team invaluable breathing room. Notable examples of where to put your ADS in advance is the Extraction Pad, the next Airlock if possible and near important resources like Medkits and Ability Boxes.
Objectives
Objectives – Your Robot Army
Jager’s golden hour is during a Sabotage, Serial Scan, Decontamination, MIA and Rescue. Which I will cover individually.
Sabotage – Use your ADS to watch potential hatch spawns, hold the line when the archies breach and to halt Tormentor and Apex projectiles. Always, ALWAYS try to make sure you can place your ADS on a wall or elevated surface to avoid Tormentors appearing on top of them and blowing them up, wasting a valuable resource. If possible, also try to have your ADS watch a vulnerable lane, this’ll free up manpower and will give you a heads up when something’s coming. Sabotage gives you the most freedom of expression, let your ambitions fly.
Serial Scan – Jager will be invaluable on a Serial Scan run. If you can set your ADS on a nearby wall, try to, otherwise, just set it dead center on the Scan Zones or on the other side of a wall. Jager doesn’t get as much freedom here but he’s the most valuable operator on a Serial Scan.
Decontamination – With Jager, Decontams play themselves. Just set your ADS to fire off at nests, namely ones clumped together or hard to get to, and fire away when you’re ready. When the nests set off, the turrets will take care of them.
MIA – While MIA is easy enough, Jager’s still extremely valuable here. (and by proxy the Removal in Nightmare Fog) Put your ADS next to the tree or by Anchor Points and just go ahead and pull. Even if you’re solo, even the most basic placements will let Jager pull while his Magpies do the work for him. A very satisfying experience and a simple joy.
Rescue – While Fuze is the superior choice here, Jager can still bring good value to a Rescue. Setting an ADS at either the pad or the airlock or just keeping them outside the room for when you leave will be great help if it becomes needed.
React Tech and React Gear choices
Notable complimentary gear to Jager
Every operator has React Tech/Gear that will benefit them greatly, and thanks to Jager’s versatility he makes good use of a lot of things, which I will go over the notable things here.
Stuns/Paralysis grenades – Every operator makes good use of these and unfortunately, these are the ones I’ll have to recommend for Jager since his kit lacks stunning potential. If you have a teammate with stuns, you can take something else, but solo or Maelstrom you’ll usually have these in your loadout.
Aura Grenades – These grenades fit perfectly to Jager’s loadout if used correctly and here’s why, Apexes, Tormentors and Smashers. These grenades will lure any and all Archaeans that spawn naturally, scanning those that are affected. Which means, you can bring them into an ADS for free quiet kills. Not only will this save ammo if you need it, but will keep stealth going without the chance of user error. You can also bring over an Apex and kill low tiers to save the ADS ammo for the Apex to make for a quick and easy kill. The same can also be done on Tormentors and the aura grenades themselves are superb at dealing with Smashers. Another thing, even angry archies will chase an aura grenade if they don’t see you first, which means that you can make a lot of space and keep them somewhere that your ADS will protect you from. Then, when you’re done, pick it back up.
Drones – Every op uses drones greatly but Jager is substantially more powerful with intel in his hand. Knowing the battle ahead lets you set up before you engage, and you can never be too safe in Extraction.
Body Armor – A simple +20% damage resistance, doubling Jager’s to 40% absorption. It’s a simple, but substantial pick, do not underestimate it as it will save your life if Archies get out of control.
Revive Kit – If you’re solo you’re probably used to taking these, but Jager’s ADS will keep you alive while you get back up if downed near one. A simple second chance from the grace of death.
Anabolic Accelerant – Usually this is a very weak piece of React Tech but Jager’s removal of Tormentor and Apex projectiles makes this rather powerful if it ever comes to the point of sub-50hp. It’ll let you take damage you usually can’t and lets you push forward if you find breathing room. I recommend Body Armor more, but the adrenaline rush of living purely off Blue Health is a great one.
Auto Turret – Jager’s already a defense king but having 3 Turrets at once is not only overkill, but actually shockingly viable. Auto Turrets can compliment the ADS by taking out fodder that would sap it’s ammo, letting it take out bigger targets before it’s wasted, a really good pick.
Rush Pistol – The invulnerability of the pistol lets you do a lot as Jager surprisingly. You can abuse the god mode to place an ADS and make space for grabbing someone, completing an objective or simply just surviving a bad moment. The Rush pistol is stupidly powerful already but with Jager, this offensive tech gets a defensive bonus.
Repulsion Harness – A sidegrade of the Rush Pistol in a sense, keeping the flexibility with an extra usage, at the cost of total utility. Nonetheless, the harness can give you space if your defenses have fallen, can help save ADS ammo and lets you become a turret yourself. Still, I’d recommend something as this is probably the weakest Tech option out of the mentioned.
